About Us

Lost Eidolons: Hellcat Jive is a dieselpunk L.A.R.P. with noir sensibilities and eldritch undercurrents. Players assume a persona, or “character,” they create for themselves, and through this character collaborate with others to tell the story of a world of two-fisted pulp action, moral ambiguity, and occult mystery. Players use Nerf guns and boffer weapons to enact a free-form theatrical style of combat.

Code of Conduct

Darksteel Games (DSG) is dedicated to providing a harassment-free LARP experience for everyone, regardless of sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, religion, or nationality.. We do not tolerate harassment of Hellcat Jive participants in any form. Sexually explicit language and imagery is not appropriate for any Hellcat Jive venue, including non-combat events.

This Code of Conduct applies to all Hellcat Jive spaces both offline and on, including our Facebook Page, Google Groups mailing lists for PCs and NPCs, and all in-person events. Some Hellcat Jive spaces may have additional rules in place, which will be made clearly available to participants. Participants are responsible for knowing and abiding by these rules.

Hellcat Jive participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from Hellcat Jive and other DSG events without a refund at the sole discretion of the DSG Staff. The following lists should be considered non-exclusive, but rather representative of our expectations for all participants, whether PC, NPC, or Staff. Any activity not listed below which creates a hostile or unsafe environment may be reported to and acted upon by DSG Staff. Please take note of items which include specific exceptions for In-Game actions; these exceptions are not absolute but are needed given the nature of Hellcat Jive as a combat LARP. Abuse of these exceptions to excuse malicious behavior otherwise disallowed by these rules will be treated as a violation of this Code of Conduct.

Participants are expected to:

Treat everyone with respect

Follow all game rules and safety guidelines

Follow Campsite or other Event Space rules and insurance requirements with regards to alcohol, tobacco, and fire, as well as all other concerns communicated by DSG Staff during Pre-Game Briefing. DSG Events are Alcohol and Recreational Drug Free, Non-Smoking, and No Fires Allowed spaces

Make use of the provided meta-game mechanics for opting out of content and checking in on other participants as needed to ensure their mental and emotional well-being

Respect the use of these mechanics by other participants, refraining from pressuring others to interact with content they have bowed out of and backing off from intense roleplay if signaled to do so by the check-in mechanics.

Refrain from engaging in harassment and other intentionally disruptive behaviors

Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment.

Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names.

Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour in spaces where they are not appropriate.

Physical contact and descriptions of physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “*hug*” or “*backrub*”) without consent or after a request to stop.

You may: Strike another participant with an approved weapon prop, throwable, or blaster dart.

All such tools are subject to the approval of Hellcat Jive Staff and must meet the standards for such props defined in the Hellcat Jive Rules [Current Version: Hellcat Jive Alpha Rulebook, “Combat Props”]

All such combat activities shall be conducted in accordance with the Accelerant Core Rules and any additional rules defined by DSG for Hellcat Jive. Make sure to respect any indicators for non-Combat participants and remain respectful in your combat conduct.

Threats of violence.

Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm.

You may: Intimidate or threaten, or incite others to threaten or commit, in-game violence on in-game participants. It should at all times remain clear that all such threats or provocations are In-Game and are being made for In-Game reasons.

Enforcement

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behaviour, DSG Staff retain the right to take any actions necessary to keep the event safe and inclusive for all participants. This includes warning the offender, or a temporary or permanent ban from Hellcat Jive with no refund of any kind.

DSG Staff may take action to address anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants.

Participants are expected to follow these rules at all Hellcat Jive activities and associated venues.

Reporting

If you are being harassed by a participant of Hellcat Jive, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact the Hellcat Jive Staff. If the person who is harassing you is a staff member, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. We will respond as promptly as we can.

Hellcat Jive Staff can be located at Monster Camp or another designated location during game events, or contacted through email (staff@hellcatjive.com).

This Code of Conduct applies to DSG and Hellcat Jive spaces, but if you are being harassed by a participant in Hellcat Jive outside our spaces, we still want to know about it. We will take all good-faith reports of harassment perpetrated by Hellcat Jive participants, especially Hellcat Jive Staff, seriously. This includes harassment outside our spaces and harassment that took place at any point in time. DSG reserves the right to exclude people from Hellcat Jive based on their past behavior, including behavior outside Hellcat Jive spaces and behavior towards people who are not participants in Hellcat Jive. In particular, if DSG receives report that a Hellcat Jive participant has exhibited problematic behavior at another event in the Accelerant/LARP community, Hellcat Jive Staff will speak to the staff of the event and the individual in question as needed to understand the incident(s) and take appropriate action based on the policies outlined here.

We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of harassment. We will not name harassment victims without their explicit consent. At our discretion, we may publicly name a person about whom we’ve received harassment complaints, or privately warn third parties about them, if we believe that doing so will increase the safety of Hellcat Jive participants or the general public.

You can report harassment by:

Contacting a staff member in person, one of whom will always be available in Monster Camp or some other location designated by Staff at Pre-Game Briefing.

Emailing staff@hellcatjive.com which will be continuously monitored throughout all events and is routinely checked between events.

When taking a harassment report in person, our Staff will ensure you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other Staff to ensure your report is managed properly. Once safe, we'll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we'll handle it as respectfully as possible, and you can bring someone to support you.

Reports submitted by email will not be shared outside of Hellcat Jive Staff without your explicit consent and then only to the extent necessary to complete our review process. You are welcome to include on CC anyone you wish to have support you in the process. We will conduct any follow-up email conversations as respectfully as possible and at no time will you be asked or required to speak about your report in person.

No matter how you submit your report, you will never be asked to confront anyone directly, and we won't tell anyone who you are without your explicit consent. Our team will be happy to help you contact local law enforcement or local support services as you may request.

Staff Members

Jacob

Jacob is the founder and owner of Darksteel Games. The creator and lead GM of Lost Eidolons and Occam's Razor, Jacob believes that easy wins aren't satisfying, that Clark Ashton Smith is the true (unappreciated) master of cosmic horror, and that a strong and supportive community that fosters the safety and dignity of all members is a vital component of any game worth its salt.

Apparently he resides with a swamp demon, a non-euclidean cat, and a rare crested batpig.

Katie

A swamp demon in a human suit, Katie spends most of her time with her nose buried in books and her head in the clouds. She loves video games, good scotch, and fine cheeses. When she is not striving to use the lens of communal storytelling to explore the many facets of human emotion, you may likely find her composing inappropriate poetry, or engaging in musical shenanigans.

Katie lives with a many-toed feline, a batpig, and her amazing partner, The Eldritch Horror, in an apartment full of her crafting catastrophes (or as she prefers to call them "works in progress”).

(Supplementary Notation Provided by Fellow Staff: Skye is an incredibly talented crafter and routinely makes award-winning weapons and armor. Skye staffed Occam’s Razor, and is the owner and driving force behind Stellar Front. He once “won larping” when he ran an encounter involving kaiju. Note that that is a direct quote from a player with decades of larping experience, not something Skye would ever say.)

Lin

Three parts hypervigilant, one part bumbling. Harkens from a northern land of feral warrior beasts, living stuffed animals, and really tall dudes. A lifetime roleplayer and storyteller. Watches and draws way too many cartoons. Probably doing something insufferably artsy when she isn’t sucked into a video game. Partakes in a refreshing glass of player tears from time to time, preferably at room temperature. Is probably cold, right this second, wherever she is. Wants to tell you about sports anime.

Junior Staff Members

Paulina

Paulina is a Demigoddess risen from the waves of the Mediterranean Sea, along the gentle curve of the Macedonian mountains. The Gods were kinder to her than they were to Pandora and gifted her with sass, creativity, and mad makeup skillz. Mad makeup skillz that have her often saying ‘At least I am using my BFA for somethin’.’ She also staffs for INK Larp, has written for Fifth Gate, and looks forward to providing many players with phantasmagorical adventures. Many a GM have said to her, ‘Give ‘em the Feels,’ to which she happily obliges. She can be vengeful, but only if you really deserve it. Take care to note the lightning in her eyes when an idea comes to life in that strange mind of hers and hold on for the ride.

Vespa

Still a Larping newb in many ways, Junior staff member Vespa is excited and nervous for her first time as part of a game staff. Coming from a background of theater and cosplay, Vespa feels she's found a fit in the Larping community and is looking forward to seeing what she can bring to the table in Hellcat.

Viar

Totally-real-human and not-at-all-robot Michael is coming to you live in the skies, broadcasting from a secret bunker just outside conventional reality and bringing you shenanigans, flight plans, toggle switches, and improbably impromptu incidents of inimitable intrigue.

Thomas

A fun-sized frost giant with an extensive background in tabletop gaming, roleplay, fiction writing, and theatre. This jotun runt burgeons with a desire to weave the darkest threads of PC backstory into insidious tapestries of morally dubious but necessary choices. He finds the most challenging games--emotionally and strategically--to be the most immersive. As such, he intends to wage war on feelings as much as the battlefield.

Rules

Hellcat Jive Beta Rules to Chi Rules Change Log:

Lifeblood and Wounded. Characters now only gain the Wounded trait when they fall Unconscious from losing their last point of Lifeblood, rather than taking any Lifeblood Damage. Essentially: you only become Wounded when you fall down.

Moxie Skills are now Perks and are therefore free.

Slabs now have the Haunted trait as part of their Natures. Skills which said "to Haunted or Slab" now simply say "to Haunted."

True Grit now costs 3 CP per level instead of 2.

Stay With Me Buddy: Text has now changed to read "You may touchcast “Diagnose Stable.” You may also touchcast “Beginning First Aid” on a Resting target. After 1 minute of Focus as administering medical attention (badly) you may call “Stabilize and Stricken by Bleeding.” Note: this does not Inflict the target with the Bleeding trait."

Dead Flesh: Text has changed to " If you take Damage and fall Unconscious and Stable, after 5 minutes you will become Conscious with full Lifeblood and without the Wounded trait."

Heavy Weapons: Wording added in Heavy Weapons Use to emphasize that you take a Short Root whenever you fire a Heavy Weapon. This must be Rested off normally (10 seconds of Rest, as it is Short).

Eldritch Bolts: Clarified that you cannot recast the imbuing ritual while you still have packets from a previous casting of the ritual.

Masked Avengers: Clarified that you cannot take a Long Rest while in Costume, but that you can gain the benefits of a Long Rest via an Imbue or other Effect without needing to use Don the Mask a second time. Updated Mild Mannered Nature weapon style list to be: you may only wield a Handgun, a Long Claw, Long Claw/Ritual Knife (if you are an Occultist), or Long Claw/Short Claw.

Added Core Nature: Keep on Truckin’. All Hellcat Jive Characters, PC and NPC alike, are considered to be perpetually Concentrating--melee attacks do not disrupt ranged attacks.